Day: September 20, 2015

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A driver who led authorities on a 100-mph freeway chase was struck by gunfire from a San Bernardino County sheriff’s helicopter before dying, the agency confirmed Saturday.

However, the official cause of death will await an autopsy, a Sheriff’s Department statement said. It didn’t indicate how many times the driver was wounded.

Friday’s chase began in Devore, east of Los Angeles, when deputies tried to pull over a man believed to have committed a home invasion robbery there a day earlier, authorities said.

The beige Chevrolet Tahoe instead led deputies on an afternoon chase through neighboring cities at 100 mph or more. The SUV blew through stop signs and red lights, narrowly missed pedestrians and then began heading the wrong way on northbound Interstate 215, according to the sheriff’s statement.

A vehicular chase ended in a head-on collision that closed Interstate 215 in northwest San Bernardino. Calif.NBC Los Angeles

In Muscoy, a deputy opened fire from a helicopter, hitting the SUV several times and wounding the driver, who jumped out of the moving car and ran a few yards before collapsing and dying on the side of the roadway, authorities said.

His name wasn’t immediately released.

The SUV, meanwhile, kept moving and crashed head-on into a Dodge Durango. A man and a 13-year-old boy were treated at a hospital and released but a woman remains hospitalized, the statement said.

She is “recovering from her injuries,” the statement said.

The northbound freeway lanes were closed all night, backing up traffic for miles. The lanes reopened around 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

Friday’s shooting was the seventh from a sheriff’s helicopter since the mid-1980s, when deputies began receiving regular training in using weapons from the air, spokeswoman Jodi Miller said.

The last such incident occurred in 2001 in Apple Valley, she said, but did not immediately have details.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump wasn’t backing down Saturday morning in the face of growing controversy over his failure to correct a man at a New Hampshire campaign event who called President Barack Obama a Muslim, saying in a series of Twitter posts that he doesn’t think he’s “morally obligated” to protect the president from negative comments.

Starting about 9 a.m., Trump fired off a series of five tweets, which have already attracted thousands of “favorite” marks and retweets:

Trump’s latest controversy began on Thursday at a Rochester, New Hampshire, event when he called a man in the audience member who said: “We have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one. You know he’s not even an American.”

“Right,” Trump said, nodding and not challenging the questioner’s comments, instead saying that “a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there,” and promising to look further into the complaint.

The controversy is growing, reports CNN, because Trump has been one of the most vocal skeptics about the president’s faith and birthplace for years, spurring a “birther” conspiracy theory by demanding the president release his full birth certificate.

He also suggested to Fox News in 2011 that the birth certificate could have “something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is Muslim.”

Obama eventually posted his birth certificate after a press conference ridiculing Trump’s “silliness,” with staffers posting it on the White House briefing room to give reporters a permanent answer, and the document remains on the White House’s website.

But still, Trump did not relent, including in 2012, after Madonna called Obama a “black Muslim” on stage and later said her comments were ironic.

Even this year, Trump commented at an Iowa candidate forum that he doesn’t know if the president “loves America.”

Trump’s campaign manager told CNN on Thursday that the real estate mogul did not hear the first part of the man’s statement at the New Hampshire event, claiming that all he heard was a question about training camps.

“The media want to make this an issue about Obama, but it’s about him waging a war on Christianity,” Trump spokesman Corey Lewandowski told CNN.

Most Trump supporters, however, believe Obama is a Muslim, a CNN/ORC poll revealed earlier this month, showing that 54 percent of Trump supporters believe Obama is a Muslim, and among Republicans nationwide 43 percent think he’s a Muslim, and 29 percent of Americans also hold that belief.

But that doesn’t mean all Republican politicians hold that view, although they disagree with the president on political issues.

During a town hall meeting in 2008, GOP nominee John McCain took the microphone away from a woman who called Obama “an Arab,” and on Friday, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham slammed Trump for his lack of action, saying Trump missed a “defining moment” by not correcting the speaker.

“You need to look the guy in the eye and say, ‘listen, I don’t agree with you, I don’t appreciate what you said,'” the South Carolina senator told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on her news program Friday. You just go right at him and say ‘you know, I don’t buy this idea about President Obama being a Muslim.'”

A young boy looks at a police officer as his family cross the Croatian-Slovenian border in Rigonce on September 20, 2015

TANGIERS (MOROCCO) – No European country can get out of taking in refugees who have the right to asylum, French President Francois Hollande said Saturday, amid a growing row over how to fairly distribute a massive influx of migrants across the continent.

The re-distribution “must involve all European countries — no one can be exempt or we would no longer belong to the same union built on values and principles,” Hollande said during a visit to Morocco, ahead of Wednesday’s EU crisis summit on a contentious proposal to spread 120,000 refugees across member states.

(13:22) (Shotgun) 7-C.Kaepernick pass short left to 81-A.Boldin for 14 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Official reviewed the runner was in bounds ruling, and the play was Upheld. The ruling on the field stands.

(Nick Reed/New Zealand Herald via AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A veteran New Zealand zookeeper was attacked and killed by a Sumatran tiger Sunday inside the animal’s enclosure.

Police said they were called to the Hamilton Zoo at 11 a.m. after reports that 43-year-old Samantha Kudeweh had been attacked by one of the zoo’s five tigers. Police said she died at the scene.

The zoo asked all visitors to leave and said it was closing its doors until Thursday. Authorities are investigating to determine exactly what happened.

Zoo visitor Adam Rich told The New Zealand Herald that he saw the tigers Sunday morning and noticed a female zookeeper opening up a gate to allow them access to an outdoor enclosure.

He said that about 45 minutes to an hour later, zoo staff approached him and asked him to leave. He said they were offering everyone a refund.

“They seemed a bit panicky,” Rich said.

Kudeweh was a senior member of the staff and had been a zookeeper for more than 20 years, according to police.

A biography on the zoo’s website described her role as curator, responsible for organizing what animals the zoo obtained and how it looked after them.

“For me the best thing about my role is the opportunities to interact with other species one to one, but there is a downside and that is having to say goodbye to animals,” Kudeweh wrote on the site. “That part never gets any easier.”

The zoo is owned and operated by the Hamilton City Council.

Council spokesman Jeff Neems said the tiger that attacked Kudeweh is named Oz and is the zoo’s only adult male tiger.

He said Oz was currently safely contained inside his enclosure. He said he had no comment on whether the animal was likely to be put down.

Neems said the public was never in danger during the incident and that all animals had remained contained in their enclosures.

“Our focus at this time is on providing the adequate support for our staff and family members who have been affected by this tragic incident,” the council said in a statement, adding that it would not comment on what went wrong until all investigations had been completed.

Neems said the zoo has 128,000 visitors each year, making it about the fourth most popular zoo in New Zealand. He said that he didn’t know how many visitors were at the zoo during the incident.

The zoo states on its website that it is home to over 600 native and exotic animals set on 25 hectares (62 acres) of grounds.

Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered, with less than 400 of the tiger subspecies still living in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

A veteran New Zealand zookeeper was attacked and killed by a Sumatran tiger Sunday inside the animal’s enclosure.

Man opens fire in a church shooting newborn baby, woman and pastor

OASIS JOURNALHORROR: The church where the gunman opened fireA woman – said to be the suspect’s girlfriend – her newborn baby and pastor have all been hurt.Dallas County District Attorney, Michael Jackson, says James Minter was arrested after the shooting on Sunday (September 20) at the Oasis Church in East Selma, Alabama.

Jackson says the shooting stems from a domestic issue between Minter and the woman and that race was not a factor.

The victims were taken to hospital but their condition is unknown.

GETTYCHARLESTON SHOOTER: Dylann Roof killed nine people in a church in JuneThe incident brings back harrowing memories of the Charleston massacre in June this year.Gunman Dylann Storm Roof, 21, opened fire at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina killing nine people in a racially motivated mass murder.

U.S. Republican candidate Dr. Ben Carson speaks during the Heritage Action for America presidential candidate forum in Greenville, South Carolina September 18, 2015.

REUTERS/CHRIS KEANE

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on Sunday said Muslims were unfit to be president of the United States, arguing their faith was inconsistent with American principles.

“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,” Carson told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The remarks by Carson, who is near the top of opinion polls for the crowded field of Republican candidates, followed a controversy that erupted when front-runner Donald Trump declined to challenge anti-Muslim comments made by a supporter on Friday.

Carson said he thought a U.S. president’s faith should be “consistent with the Constitution.”

Asked if he thought Islam met this bar, the retired neurosurgeon said: “No, I do not.”

Carson gave up some ground in a CNN/ORC poll released on Sunday, slipping to third place from second with 14 percent of support. Sixteen Republicans are seeking the party’s nomination for the U.S. presidential election in November 2016.

The CNN/ORC poll showed Trump, a real estate mogul and former reality TV star, continues to lead the contest with the support of 24 percent of registered voters, down from 32 percent in a previous poll. bit.ly/1OnmXrB

Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina surged into second place with 15 percent support, just above Carson.

Carson’s comments drew scorn from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, another presidential candidate though one who garnered under 1 percent support in the CNN/ORC poll.

“I think Dr. Carson needs to apologize,” Graham said, saying the comments were particularly offensive to U.S. soldiers who are Muslim.

But other Republicans tread more softly around the issue, highlighting its salience among some voters. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who had 4 percent support in the CNN/ORC poll, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that a president’s religion shouldn’t matter but he understood the rise of anti-Islamic sentiment because “we were attacked by people who were all Muslim.”

A Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll conducted in January in Iowa, the first state to vote in the nominating contest, showed 39 percent of Republicans see Islam as inherently violent. Thirteen percent of Democrats held that view. buswk.co/1NFcUwB

Ohio Governor John Kasich, another laggard in the polls for Republican nominees, told NBC he didn’t know if a president’s religion mattered.

Speaking to NBC on Sunday, Trump was asked whether he’d accept a Muslim president, and replied: “Some people have said it already happened.”

Budweiser beer is for sale March 5 at a concession stand at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer and the makers of Budweiser, announced Wednesday its desire to buy No. 2 SABMiller, creating a beer maker with annual sales of $73.3 billion, more than three times its closest rival, Heineken Holding.

LONDON — The makers of Budweiser aren’t satisfied with being the kings of beer. They want an empire.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewing company and the owner of Budweiser, announced Wednesday it wants to buy SABMiller, the second-largest brewer — and the maker of long-time rival brand Miller Genuine Draft.

The deal would create a multinational behemoth valued at around $275 billion with annual sales of $73.3 billion, more than three times its closest rival, Heineken.

AB InBev already claims six of the world’s most valuable beer brands, which besides Budweiser include Corona, Stella Artois and Beck’s. Taking over Miller in the U.S. would likely draw objections from regulators worried the deal might stifle competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

But whereas a lot of the attention will focus on the best-known brands in the U.S. and Europe, AB InBev’s sights are on other countries. As profits wane in the Americas, AB InBev wants to expand into Africa.

Enticingly, SABMiller has a huge presence in Africa, the next beer frontier.

“The days of big profits in the U.S. are gone,” said Jonny Forsyth, a global drinks analyst for Mintel, the market research firm. “They have to position themselves in the big beer growth market for the next 10 years.”

Shares of SABMiller rocketed about 20 percent higher on news of the approach, pushing its market value to around $90 billion. Shares of AB InBev rose 6 percent.

The companies are being pushed into consolidation by eroding market share and competition, ironically, by the little guy. Craft beers now make up 11 percent in volume in the U.S. market, Mintel said.

AB InBev and SABMiller are themselves products of this consolidation trend. In every way, they are thinking big.

“We are driven by our passion to create a company that can stand the test of time and create value for our shareholders, not only for the next 10 or 20 years but for the next 100 years,” Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito and chairman Kees J. Storm wrote in a letter to shareholders. “Our mindset is truly long term.”

But Africa, where home brew still dominates, offers a chance to grow. And that’s where SABMiller — the one-time South African industrial conglomerate — offers a foothold.

The former South African Breweries expanded in the early 1990s when Nelson Mandela’s release from prison led to a lifting of sanctions on South Africa and allowed the company to expand abroad.

Though the European beer market was dominated by the likes of Guinness and Heineken, SAB took advantage of the opening offered by the fall of the Berlin Wall to sweep into Eastern Europe and buy brewers on the cheap. Its expansion also stretched to other African countries including Mozambique, and to Asia.

The company bought Czech brewer Plzensky Prazdroj, maker of Pilsner Urquell, in 1999, U.S.-based Miller Brewing Co. in 2002 and Foster’s of Australia in 2011. Today the company employs about 69,000 people in more than 80 countries, from Australia to Zambia, Colombia and the Czech Republic.

AB InBev is likewise the product of many mergers. Its current form emerged from a 2008 takeover of U.S. icon Anheuser Busch Cos. by Brazilian-Belgian brewer InBev. The company has operations in 25 countries and makes more than 200 beers.

SABMiller, now based in London, said Wednesday that it “will review and respond as appropriate to any proposal which might be made.”

If the deal were to happen, it would create a company with 31 percent of the global beer market, said Harry Schuhmacher, editor of Beer Business Daily, a trade publication. That would dwarf the next biggest player, Heineken, which has 9 percent of the global market.

Under U.K. takeover rules, AB InBev has until 5 p.m. on Oct. 14 to make an offer for SABMiller or walk away.

SABMiller sold 8.56 billion gallons of lager, soft drinks and other alcoholic beverages in the year ended March 31. AB InBev sold 12.13 billion gallons.

In the case of a deal, the sheer size of the combined company is expected to push regulators to require the sale of some brands to ensure fair competition. That could be the case for Miller in the U.S.

“Anytime you have the No. 1 and No. 2 merging, it’s going to be looked at closely,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business who studies antitrust issues.

“Once Upon a Time” executive producers have revealed they will introduce an LGBT relationship in Season 5, but won’t say whether it will involve Jamie Chung’s character Mulan (pictured here). Once Upon a Time/Facebook

“Once Upon a Time” executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis revealed that fans will see a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender “love story” in Season 5. While it was previously revealed Mulan (Jamie Chung) is a lesbian, Horowitz and Kitsis won’t say whether the same-sex romance will involve the female warrior or another character.

“We know that [LGBT] community have been big supporters of the show, and we would love to be able to tell a love story that reflects that,” Kitsis said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It is something that we’re going to do this year.”

Horowitz added: “We want the show to reflect the world as it is now. Whether that’s going to be with any particular character, we’re not going to say … It’s something we think is due and important to do on the show.”

During Season 3, it was revealed Mulan was in love with Princess Aurora (Sarah Bolger), but never told her because the sleeping beauty said she was pregnant with Prince Phillip’s (Julian Morris) baby. The last time fans saw Mulan was shortly after Aurora revealed her baby news and Mulan joined Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) and his Merry Men.

However, Chung took to Twitter Tuesday to tell fans she was reprising her role as Mulan in Season 5. It’s unclear how soon “Once Upon a Time” will introduce the LGBT storyline, but we do have a few details about the Season 5 premiere.

The first episode, titled “The Dark Swan,” will pick up after Emma (Jennifer Morrison) was swallowed by a cloud of darkness in the Season 4 finale. During the premeire episode, Emma’s family and friends will go searching for her, not realizing she was transported to the Enchanted Forest and is no longer in their “world.” The synopsis also teased that fans will see Ginnifer Goodwin’s character Snow, Josh Dallas’ Prince Charming and Colin O’Donoghue’s Captain Hook team up with an “unlikely ally” to help find Emma.

“Once Upon a Time” Season 5 premieres on ABC Sunday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. EDT.

The gun that police allege was used by a suspect to fire at four vehicles on an Arizona freeway in August was not pawned at the time of the shootings, police said in a report.

Leslie Allen Merritt Jr., 21, was arrested Friday and charged in the first four ofa string of 11 shootings that occurred over two weeks and left Phoenix area drivers on edge.

Merritt said in court Saturday that police have “the wrong guy,” and that his gun had been in a pawn shop for the past two months. “I haven’t even had access to a weapon,” he said.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said in the report that they test fired a gun that Merritt allegedly pawned, and “the test fired bullets were matched to bullets and bullet fragments from the four cases.”

Leslie Allen Merritt Jr., makes his initial appearance before a judge at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday.Rob Schumacher / AP

Police said in the report that “at the time of the shootings in question the firearm was not in pawn status.” Police also said that Merritt’s social media pages referenced the “I-10 shooter” case.

Merritt’s father, Leslie Allen Merritt Sr., said Saturday night that he believes his son is innocent and urged the public not to rush to judgment.

He said his son is a gun enthusiast and responsible gun owner, and that many people across Arizona — and especially in the Phoenix area — shared posts about the two-week shooting spree online.

“We have no doubt to his innocence,” Merritt Sr. said. “We hope whoever has done this — regardless of who it is — eventually is caught and faces justice for it. We feel for all the people that were subjected to this violence.”

“I would just ask that everybody let this play out in court,” Merritt Sr. said.

Eleven vehicles have been shot since Aug. 29. Eight involved bullets and three involved what have been described as “projectiles.” The last confirmed shooting was reported Sept. 10. There have been no serious injuries.

Merritt Jr. was charged in the first four shootings, which involved bullets. Three vehicles were shot on I-10 on Aug. 29 and a car was struck by a bullet on Aug. 30. A 13-year-old girl was injured by flying glass in one of those incidents, but refused treatment.

Merritt Jr. was charged with four counts each of drive-by shooting, intentional acts of terrorism, discharging a firearm within city limits, aggravated assault, endangerment, criminal damage and disorderly conduct involving a weapon. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Police last week detained a local 19-year-old man who they referred to as a “person of interest” in the shootings, but a judge ordered him released Friday and no charges were filed. He was never called a suspect.